The book by Franz Tumler (1912-1998) tells the story of a man and his coat, focusing on the few days that lie between the purchase and the loss, and everything that happens to the buyer during this time. The external action leads to internal action; the temptations of the outside world resonate with the vibrations of the inner world. From an everyday story in some Austrian small town, it becomes the tale of a very specific, hesitant, indecisive, lonely person, for whom the possibility corrupts every reality—until loss, rediscovery, and the final giving away of his coat transform him, allowing him to transition into a different, new state that grants him liberation. Tumler's storytelling powerfully evokes uncertainty and unease. Alfred Kubin's illustrations accompany the edition published by Suhrkamp Verlag in 1954.